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Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Baby Kale Salad with Cherries, Chickpeas, and Pistachios

Baby Kale Salad with Cherries, Chickpeas, and Pistachios

My current kitchen is bigger than the kitchen in our duplex,
where we lived when we were first married. That duplex kitchen was bigger than
the kitchen in my college house, where I first started cooking (very, very
minimally!). Although I’ve managed to increase kitchen size over the years,
it’s definitely not enough close to big enough. The drawers and cabinets are
jam packed and you’d probably laugh at the size of my pantry. I’m not
complaining—kitchen woes aside, I love our house and don’t have any desire to
move anytime soon. Rather than lust after larger kitchens, I try to be
intentional about wisely using the space I do have.

Of course, this means I don’t have room for unnecessary
kitchen gadgets. That being said, after making this salad, I think I can
justify the purchase of a cherry pitter! Removing each pit with a knife is a
painstaking process, though I’ll admit it was worth it for the final product.
I’ve used just about every kind of fruit in salad (mango, strawberries, blueberries, nectarines,
pears, apples, oranges, peaches, grapes, pomegranate, etc.!) , but never
cherries. It was my first, but definitely not my last…especially once I get my
hands on that cherry pitter! We enjoyed this as a lighter dinner, the chickpeas
adding a little protein and heft (grilled chicken would also serve the same
purpose). In my opinion, the best salads are ones with something different in
every bite, and you definitely get that here with pistachios, goat cheese,
chickpeas, green onions, and cherries! Even if you don’t have a cherry pitter
(or room for one!), take the extra fifteen minutes to pit some cherries and
make this…I suspect you’ll find the labor of love worth it!